Who is the Scuderi Group?
Based in West Springfield, Mass., with offices in Frankfurt, Germany, and Nagoya, Japan, Scuderi Group has developed a revolutionary engine technology anticipated to replace many of the standard internal combustion engines used in applications such as cars, trucks, lawnmowers, boats, agriculture equipment, etc. Securing $80M in funding to date, Scuderi Group’s business model is to license its technology to qualified engine manufacturers worldwide. The company’s global patent portfolio contains more than 476 patent applications filed and 154 issued in 50 countries.
What is the SCUDERI™ Engine?
The Scuderi Engine divides the four strokes of a combustion cycle between two paired cylinders—the left cylinder functions as an air compressor, handling intake and compression, while the right cylinder handles combustion and exhaust. Key to Scuderi’s split-cycle design is that it compresses the air in a separate cylinder before it fires. By optimizing the split-cycle concept, the engine when fully developed will reduce NOx emissions up to 80 percent and improve fuel efficiency by 50 percent, compared to a conventional gasoline engine. The engine requires one crankshaft revolution to complete a single combustion cycle and is projected to have higher torque, thermodynamic efficiency, and lower emissions than possible with today’s engines.
What is happening now with the prototype?
Testing of the naturally aspirated, one-liter gasoline engine at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX, continues to meet or exceed the initial computer simulations. A recent study modeled various Scuderi Split-Cycle engine designs in a vehicle computer model of a 2011 Nissan Sentra.
The Sentra model was simulated through a standardized Federal Test Procedure-75 (FTP-75) drive cycle for each SSC engine design. Preliminary results of the Study showed that up to a 25 percent decrease in fuel consumption (i.e., up to 33 percent increase in MPG) was achievable with an SSC engine replacing the Sentra’s engine when factoring in fuel cutoff during deceleration and idle in the model. Results also showed that up to 35 percent decrease in fuel consumption (i.e., up to 54 percent increase in MPG) was achievable when compared to the model Nissan Sentra using a stock engine without fuel cutoff.
How efficient is the engine?
A recent study modeled various Scuderi Split-Cycle engine designs in a vehicle computer model of a 2011 Nissan Sentra.
The Sentra model was simulated through a standardized Federal Test Procedure-75 (FTP-75) drive cycle for each SSC engine design. Preliminary results of the Study showed that up to a 25 percent decrease in fuel consumption (i.e., up to 33 percent increase in MPG) was achievable with an SSC engine replacing the Sentra’s engine when factoring in fuel cutoff during deceleration and idle in the model. Results also showed that up to 35 percent decrease in fuel consumption (i.e., up to 54 percent increase in MPG) was achievable when compared to the model Nissan Sentra using a stock engine without fuel cutoff.
The primary purpose of the Study was to answer the fundamental question: how much gas mileage will the Scuderi engine achieve? Historically, this has been a difficult question to answer because it is dependent on the type of vehicle the engine is placed in and the route driven (or drive cycle). Scuderi Group commissioned the independent lab to design and implement the computer Study, which could simulate an SSC engine in any vehicle of choice, driven through any drive cycle of choice. Results would then be compared to the same vehicle driven with its factory engine through the same drive cycle. The Nissan Sentra was the first vehicle chosen for the Study, due to its competitive mileage and popularity.
How long until there is a car on the road with the Scuderi Engine?
After an OEM licenses the Scuderi technology, it usually takes approximately three to five years for a vehicle to make it into production.
Would a vehicle running on a Scuderi Engine require twice as many cylinders?
No. There would be the same number of cylinders and pistons as a conventional engine. So, a four cylinder-sized engine would remain a four-cylinder; it would just have two sets of paired cylinders — two cylinders dedicated to compression and two dedicated to combustion. All in one revolution of the crankshaft.
How does the Scuderi Engine compare to the electric hybrid?
The performance is expected to be just as good or better with dramatically less cost and far less environmental issues. The Scuderi Engine can also be used in tandem with electric hybrid systems.
Who was Carmelo Scuderi?
Carmelo J. Scuderi (BS, ME), (1925-2002) was an American inventor, a mechanical designer, and a thermodynamics and fluid mechanics engineer who worked for nearly fifty years inventing, developing, testing and commercializing new technologies. Throughout his lifetime, Carmelo was an invaluable process partner for major corporations and defense contractors. He worked and served as a consultant for Hamilton Standard, Raytheon, Avco Lycoming, Hughes Aircraft Company, as well as the US Navy and Air Force. He assisted in the development of the Mark 48 (Mk-48) Advanced Capability (ADCAP) torpedo, critical test equipment for NASA space suits, fire suppression equipment for aircraft carriers, and countless applications utilizing refrigerant and compressor technologies. In 1992, Scuderi developed a compressor technology to prevent the release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere in response to a key United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandate. His oil-less compressor was conceived and introduced within a period of six months and captured 70 percent of the refrigerant recovery market within one year. In 2005, Discovery Magazine credited this development as one of the reasons for the ongoing repair of the ozone layer. Nearly 20 years later, Scuderi's technology remains the industry standard. In 1994, after spending most of his life contemplating the inefficiencies of the conventional engine Otto Cycle, Scuderi set out to improve the internal combustion engine and in 1998 began designing the Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine full-time. Scuderi's design was finalized in 2001 and with the help of his children, he began obtaining patents, contacting laboratories and licensing experts, and raising funds for what would be a completely new internal combustion process: The Scuderi Cycle. Carmelo Scuderi died suddenly in 2002, but the Scuderi family's next generation of engineers and support partners continue to further his legacy of innovation by transforming their father's engine concept into the revolutionary Scuderi Engine and beyond.